Portland Noir

Dex is a female private investigator with
a gambling problem. Her business slogan is “Taking a beating so you
don’t have to,” and she’s inches away from some serious punches if she
doesn’t come up with $18,000. That’s the premise of local comic man Greg
Rucka’s modern noir series Stumptown, which is set in the
grittier pockets of Portland (from underneath the St. Johns bridge to,
oddly enough, the RingSide) and illustrated with moody verve by
Seattleite Matthew Southworth. Portland’s Oni Press has just published
the four installments of the miniseries together in one pretty hardcover
volume and is throwing a release party at Bridge City Comics to
celebrate. Southworth and Rucka will sign the books, which will be on
sale, along with brand-new Stumptown illustrations. Leave your brass knuckles at home.

A study in seasonal affective disorder
openly influenced by the early work of David Gordon Green, Matt
McCormick’s debut feature gets moving if uneven performances from James
Mercer and pre-Portlandia Carrie Brownstein, but it’s more than an indie-rock mood ring. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 493-1128. Multiple showtimes. $5-$7.

[THREADS] BRIDGETOWN FASHION REVUE

What’s better than eyeballing clothes
from local designers? Watching models and burlesque dancers strut the
same threads in a series of “performance vignettes” set to live world
music. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 7 pm. $10. 21+.

[MOVIES]OF GODS AND MEN

A movie so serious that Ingmar Bergman
would tell it to lighten up, Xavier Beauvois’ Grand Prix-winning study
of devotion and doubt fixes its patient gaze on a brotherhood of French
monks whose quiet lives of faithful service are threatened by the
Algerian Civil War. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave., 223-4515. Multiple showtimes. $6-$9.

SATURDAY MARCH 26

[MUSIC] DAN BERN

You probably heard his songs during Get Him to the Greek,
but Dan Bern is no joke songwriter. His political savvy, personal
honesty and fantastic songs make him one of the better youngish folk
singers around. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 8 pm. $15 advance, $18 day of show. 21+.